Leeds United enjoyed a strong penultimate pre-season clash as Daniel Farke's side beat Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Thursday night.
Who scored for Leeds against Nottingham Forest?
Winger Ian Poveda and centre-forward Patrick Bamford got themselves on the scoresheet for the Whites at Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium.
Along with the goals, the German head coach will surely have been pleased with a clean sheet for his team as they showed defensive resilience ahead of the start of the 2023/24 Championship season next month.
Leeds United News writer Danny Bloomer picked out trialist Sam Byram as one of the standout performers for the club at left-back on the night as he rewarded the ex-Norwich Ctiy man with a rating of 7/10.
It has been a busy summer of outward business for Farke as a host of first-team players have made their way out of the door; including right-back Rasmus Kristensen, who has signed for Serie A giants Roma on loan until the end of the season.
Who could replace Rasmus Kristensen at Leeds?
The Whites boss could land a dream replacement for the Denmark international by offering Byram a permanent contract following his trial period, as the English brute has the potential to be an upgrade on him.
Firstly, the ex-Canaries titan would offer far more versatility across the backline. Kristensen has never played more than eight matches outside of right-back or right-midfield in his career.
Whereas, the 29-year-old free-agent has featured in 26 or more matches as a right-back, left-back, and right-midfielder, whilst he also played six times as a centre-back over the last two seasons.
Byram caught the eye in his 15 Championship appearances for the Canaries last season as he averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.85.
The experienced defender won 4.8 duels per match and boasted an impressive success rate of 59%, which shows that he was able to dominate opposition forwards.
Kristensen, on the other hand, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.70 across 26 Premier League outings for Leeds, which placed him 11th within the squad.
The 26-year-old won 54% of his battles and came out on top in 4.2 of them per game, which shows that the now-Roma battler was not as efficient as the English gem was in his defensive work.
This suggests that the potential is there for Byram to be an upgrade on the former RB Salzburg warrior as a pure defender, due to his strength in individual duels and average performance level – albeit in different leagues.
In possession, the former Yellows ace created 0.5 chances per clash last season in comparison to Kristensen's 0.3 for the Whites, which shows that neither of them are particularly creative as nine Leeds players produced more key passes per game last term.
Farke recently hailed Byram as a "top-class" character and their pre-existing relationship, as the 5 foot 11 dynamo played 20 matches for the German tactician at Carrow Road, could allow the free agent to slot straight into the team as he already knows what the manager wants from him as a left-back or right-back.
Therefore, the ex-Whites academy prospect could be the dream replacement for Kristensen due to the quality and versatility he could provide on the pitch.
Although there are question marks over his fitness, as the strong enforcer never played more than 17 league games in a single season for Norwich, bringing him in on a free is a worthwhile gamble for the club to make.
